How ownership of Tribune Publishing — the parent company of the Chicago Tribune — has changed since 2006

For more than 15 years, sweeping leadership changes have been the norm for Tribune Publishing, owner of the Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers including the New York Daily News, the Baltimore Sun and the Orlando Sentinel.

Tribune Publishing shareholders voted to approve hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s $633 million purchase of the Chicago-based newspaper chain.

Through Sam Zell, bankruptcy, Michael Ferro and now Alden Global Capital, here is how the saga unfolded.

Tribune Co. puts itself on the block, saying a special committee of the board of directors will consider restructuring, selling assets or taking the company private in a leveraged buyout.

Tribune Co. agrees to go private in an $8.2 billion leveraged buyout led by Chicago real estate tycoon Sam Zell. The deal technically hands ownership to an employee stock ownership plan but gives Zell control over the media conglomerate that traces its roots to 1847.

Zell closes the second step of the two-step deal, which loads the company with about $13 billion in debt.

Tribune Co. reaches a deal to sell a 97 percent stake in Newsday, the Long Island, N.Y., newspaper, to Cablevision Systems Corp. for $650 million.

Tribune Co. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as it runs short of cash amid the gathering recession and industrywide falloff in advertising spending. It decided it wouldn’t make payments due to holders of one class of debt. With other debt payments looming in January, the company opts for bankruptcy.

The Ricketts family forges a deal to take control of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field from Tribune Co. for about $800 million, turning over the storied franchise to a clan that built its fortune with an online stock brokerage.

Tribune Co. emerges from bankruptcy and the new owners name a new board of directors.

Tribune Co. announces plans to spin off into two companies, effectively ending an 89-year strategy of pairing broadcasting and print. Tribune Media tightens its focus to broadcasting and a new company, Tribune Publishing, is created to focus on the newspaper properties. The assets are divided along these lines with real estate and other valuable assets staying with the broadcasting company.

“The separation is designed to allow these two companies to have greater financial and operational focus, the ability to tailor their capital structures to specific business needs and a management team dedicated to strategic growth opportunities with maximum flexibility — in short, each will be a stronger company when separated from the other.”

—  Peter Liguori, CEO of Tribune Co.

With the spinoff complete, Tribune Media and Tribune Publishing debut as independently publicly traded companies.

Tribune Publishing acquires six daily and 32 weekly suburban newspapers from Wrapports, the company that owns the Chicago Sun-Times. The publications include the Daily Southtown, Post-Tribune of northwest Indiana, Aurora Beacon-News, Elgin Courier-News, Naperville Sun, Lake County News-Sun and the weekly Pioneer Press newspapers.

“We have reach in the suburbs now, but this gives us more reach, deeper reach, with really good brands that we’re acquiring. We think it’s very rational, very sensible and it will be another good test for us and the ability to demonstrate that this kind of activity makes sense for the company and, ultimately, our shareholders.”

—  Jack Griffin, CEO of Tribune Publishing

Tribune Publishing acquires the San Diego Union-Tribune for $85 million. The deal includes nine community weeklies and related websites.

“The acquisition of San Diego Union-Tribune and its related community properties is expected to be accretive to Tribune Publishing and reflects our continuing drive to create value for our shareholders.”

—  Jack Griffin, CEO of Tribune Publishing

Tribune Publishing approves buyouts for about 7 percent of its eligible 7,000 employees across its media portfolio including more than three dozen at the Tribune.

Michael Ferro, majority owner of the Chicago Sun-Times, becomes the largest shareholder in Tribune Publishing. The company sells more than 5.2 million shares of newly issued common stock to Merrick Media, a Chicago-based investment firm controlled by Ferro, in a $44.4 million deal.

Bruce Dold, previously the Chicago Tribune’s editorial page editor, replaces Gerould Kern as its editor. Kern retires after leading the Tribune since July 2008.

Jack Griffin is replaced as CEO of Tribune Publishing by Justin C. Dearborn. Most recently, Dearborn was CEO of Merge, a health care technology company acquired by IBM in October 2015.

Bruce Dold is promoted to a dual editor-publisher role at the Chicago Tribune, while other Tribune Publishing editors-in-chief are also promoted to the same role. Tony Hunter, publisher since 2008, is promoted to president of national revenue and strategic initiatives at Tribune Publishing. At the same time, Ferro announces that he is donating his ownership stake in the Chicago Sun-Times to a charitable trust to avoid perceived conflicts of interest.

Tribune Publishing announces it is the successful bidder in a public auction in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Freedom Communications, which is the publisher of the Orange County Register. The bid needs court approval, with a hearing scheduled for March 21, 2016, but must overcome serious anti-trust concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice.

After a judge blocks the sale of the Orange County Register and Press-Enterprise of Riverside to Tribune Publishing, Freedom Communications decides to sell to Digital First Media.

Gannett announces an offer to buy Tribune Publishing for $815 million, including the assumption of $390 million in debt. In a letter to Justin Dearborn released by Gannett, the company says it is “disappointed” by the response and Tribune is trying to “delay constructive engagement” and notes the all-cash value of the transaction means it could be completed quickly.

Tribune Publishing acknowledges the offer shortly after Gannett’s announcement, saying it received the proposal April 12, and tells Gannett that the board will retain advisers to help it evaluate the proposal.

Tribune Publishing’s board votes unanimously to reject Gannett’s $815 million unsolicited offer to buy the Chicago-based owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers.

In an interview, Ferro says Chicago-based Tribune Publishing’s newly outlined plans for leveraging the digital assets of the company will bring more value to shareholders than Gannett’s offer.

“There’s no price. We’re not for sale. We’ll always listen to everybody but we’re not for sale.”

—  Michael Ferro, largest shareholder in Tribune Publishing

Oaktree Capital Management — Tribune Publishing’s second-largest shareholder — says it wants the company to meet with Gannett about the possible sale of the Chicago-based newspaper company.

The Los Angeles-based investment firm says Tribune Publishing should “pursue discussions with Gannett to see if an acceptable agreement can be reached,” according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It is the first public statement from Oaktree, which owns 14.8 percent of Tribune Publishing, since Gannett’s unsolicited $815 million offer.

Tribune Publishing’s board adopts a shareholder rights plan to defend itself against Gannett’s unsolicited bid to buy the Chicago-based newspaper company. The publisher of the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and other papers says the plan — commonly known as a “poison pill” — will kick in if a group buys more than 20 percent of Tribune Publishing’s shares or begins a tender offer to seek a 20 percent stake from existing shareholders.

Tribune Publishing and Gannett meet in Chicago but no progress is made.

USA Today owner Gannett boosts its takeover bid for Tribune Publishing by about 22 percent.

Oaktree Capital Management, Tribune Publishing’s second-largest shareholder, delivers an unequivocal message to the board: Negotiate a transaction with Gannett.

Each company calls out the other’s leaders by name and questions management’s decision-making.

Tribune Publishing rejects Gannett’s $15-per-share offer to buy the company, but opens the door to negotiations. Tribune Publishing also announces it received a $70.5 million investment from Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong’s Nant Capital in a deal that makes the California-based technology investment firm the company’s second-largest shareholder, surpassing Oaktree Capital Management, which has pushed Tribune Publishing to negotiate a sale to Gannett.

The owner of the Chicago Tribune has a new name. Tronc, which is an acronym for Tribune online content.A sizable percentage of Tribune shareholders voice disapproval with the company by withholding votes from its slate of board candidates at Tribune Publishing’s annual meeting in Los Angeles, according to Gannett.

During an interview with CNBC, Ferro says that Gannett’s $15 bid was “undervalued,” but hedged on the “no price” stance he took the previous month.

“That’s up to the board and the outside advisers to decide, but there’s a price. There’s always a price.”

—  Michael Ferro, largest shareholder in Tribune Publishing

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In a news release, Gannett says it will keep its $15-per-share offer on the table for Tronc into August.

Tronc reports a higher second-quarter net income despite continued revenue declines.

Three months after its last offer was spurned, Gannett offers a new bid for an undisclosed price for the Chicago-based newspaper chain formerly known as Tribune Publishing. Representatives for both Tronc and Gannett decline to comment.

Gannett announces it is ending discussions to acquire Tronc.

In multiple transactions during six weeks, Michael Ferro and Patrick Soon-Shiong acquire nearly 2 million shares combined of Tronc’s stock at a steep discount to Gannett’s last offer for the company, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Oaktree Capital Management, the Los-Angeles based investment firm that was once Tronc’s largest shareholder, sells its remaining 3.74 million shares back to the publishing company in a deal valued at more than $56 million.

The company also takes action to keep Ferro, his Merrick Ventures and its affiliates the largest shareholders by increasing to 30 percent — from 25 percent — the maximum stake of the company they can own, according to a Securities and Exchance Commission filing.

Tronc announces it has entered into a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire Wrapports — whose properties include the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Reader — for an undisclosed price. Wrapports publishes notice of the proposed sale to Tronc and solicits competitive bidders the next day.

According to the terms of the deal, if no other “viable buyer” emerges within 15 days, the Sun-Times would be sold to Tronc. At the behest of the Justice Department, the deadline is extended several times to accommodate potential buyers until an investor group led by former Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath submits its bid June 19, 2017.

The Chicago Sun-Times is sold to Eisendrath’s group and the Chicago Federation of Labor, ending a bid by Tronc that sought to acquire its longtime rival.

The Los Angeles Times ousts editor-publisher Davan Maharaj, a 28-year veteran of the paper, along with other newsroom leadership.

Veteran media executive Ross Levinsohn is named Times publisher.

Jim Kirk, who until the previous week was editor and publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, is named interim executive editor.

Tronc acquires the New York Daily News — for $1 and the assumption of operational and pension liabilities.

Lewis D’Vorkin, chief product officer for Forbes, is named editor in chief of the Los Angeles Times.

In a first for the 136-year-old news organization, the Los Angeles Times journalists vote 248-44 to form a union that will be represented by the Washington, D.C.-based NewsGuild-Communication Workers of America.

Ross Levinsohn, publisher and chief executive of the Los Angeles Times, is placed on an unpaid leave of absence as the paper’s parent company, Tronc, investigates allegations of inappropriate conduct while he was an executive at other companies.

Jim Kirk, a veteran Chicago journalist, is named editor in chief of the Los Angeles Times. He replaces Lewis D’Vorkin and becomes the third top editor at the Times in less than six months.

Tronc agrees to sell the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune and other California-based assets to Patrick Soon-Shiong for $500 million in cash. Soon-Shiong, Tronc’s second-largest shareholder, assumes $90 million of pension liabilities tied to the California properties.

Tronc also announces it will form a new division called Tribune Interactive, to be led by Ross Levinsohn, Los Angeles Times publisher. The company says an independent review into allegations of sexual harassment at previous companies found “no wrongdoing” by Levinsohn, who had been on unpaid leave since Jan. 19, 2018. Lewis D’Vorkin — abruptly replaced as editor in chief of the Los Angeles Times — is named chief content officer for Tribune Interactive.

Michael Ferro retires from Tronc’s board hours before Fortune publishes a story online accusing him of inappropriate behavior toward two women while in his previous role as head of a Chicago investment firm.

Justin Dearborn, chief executive officer of Tronc, is named to succeed Ferro as chairman of the company.

Michael Ferro agrees to sell his entire stake in Tronc — more than 9 million shares, or 25 percent of the company — to McCormick Media for $208.6 million.

Tronc acquires The Virginian-Pilot newspaper — the largest newspaper in Virginia — from Landmark Media Enterprises for $34 million.

Michael Ferro terminates the purchase agreement with McCormick Media because of a “breach of its obligations” by the buyer.

Patrick Soon-Shiong’s purchase of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune for $500 million from Tronc is finalized.

The parent of the Chicago Tribune announces it’s changing its name from Tronc to Tribune Publishing and will trade on the NASDAQ under the new ticker symbol TPCO starting Oct. 10, 2018. Tribune Publishing was the inaugural corporate name for the newspaper company, formed in August 2014 when the Tribune Co. publishing unit was spun off from its broadcast stations.

Tribune Publishing announces it will pay a special cash dividend of $56 million to shareholders — the first since Tribune Publishing was spun off into a stand-alone company in August 2014.

Tribune Publishing announces it is shutting down Hoy, its Spanish-language newspaper. Print and online publications are scheduled to end on Dec. 13, 2019.

Tribune Publishing announces it will begin paying a quarterly 25-cent dividend to shareholders, with an initial payout of about $9 million on Dec. 10.The first dividend will be payable to shareholders of record as of Nov. 25, with plans to pay regularly quarterly dividends “for the foreseeable future,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

Michael Ferro sells his 25.2 percent stake in Tribune Publishing to hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

Alden’s stock purchase, a mega merger between Gannett and GateHouseMedia and recent financial warnings from McClatchy mark a week of uncertainty across the newspaper industry.

“Tribune is the last big player standing. It’s a very cheap stock and it’s fairly well run.”

—  Douglas Arthur, media industry analyst with Huber Research

Alden Global Capital increases its stake in Tribune Publishing to 32 percent. Alden now owns 11.5 million shares — nearly a third of Tribune Publishing’s common stock.

Tribune Publishing announces Dana Goldsmith Needleman and Christopher Minnetian — top executives with funds affiliated with Alden Global Capital — have been named to the newspaper company’s board effective immediately. The hedge fund also agrees to cap its ownership stake at 33% through June 2020.

Two months after hedge fund Alden Global Capital became the largest shareholder in Tribune Publishing, the Chicago-based newspaper chain announces a buyout program to reduce employee head count and expenses.

Tim Knight, a longtime company executive who became CEO in January 2019, is replaced by Terry Jimenez, Tribune Publishing’s chief financial officer.

Tribune Publishing declares a quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents per share.

Colin McMahon, Tribune Publishing’s chief content officer, adds the title of Chicago Tribune editor-in-chief following a reorganization of the leadership of the company’s flagship paper. He replaces Bruce Dold, who served as publisher and editor-in-chief of the paper since February 2016, capping a 42-year career at the Chicago Tribune that included a Pulitzer Prize. Peter Kendall, one of two managing editors at the Tribune, also leaves the newspaper as part of the restructuring.

Mason Slaine, an investor and the former CEO of business information publisher Thomson Financial, acquires a 7 percent stake in Tribune Publishing, making him the third-largest shareholder in the company.

Tribune Publishing announces pay cuts of up to 10% for nonunion employees making $67,000 per year or more.

The pay cuts, effective April 19 across the Chicago-based newspaper chain, are aimed at reducing costs as print ad revenue drops while businesses are closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Companywide furloughs are announced by Tribune Publishing to “ensure financial stability” as advertising revenue continues to decline amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The three-week furloughs, which will be taken in one-week increments from May through July, will be for nonunion employees making between $40,000 and $67,000 per year, the company said. Employees will continue to receive health benefits but no salary during the weeks they are on furlough.

“Statewide stay-at-home orders have been extended beyond initial government orders, and as a result, we will need to take additional measures to ensure the financial stability of the company.”

—  Terry Jimenez, CEO of Tribune Publishing

The union representing newsroom employees at the Chicago Tribune and other Tribune Publishing newspapers wages a proxy campaign to unseat two board members representing hedge fund Alden Global Capital, the largest shareholder of the Chicago-based newspaper chain.

In a letter dated May 4, 2020, the NewsGuild-Communication Workers of America urged Tribune Publishing shareholders to vote against the election of Dana Goldsmith Needleman and Christopher Minnetian to the eight-member board. A copy of the letter was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 5, 2020.

Tribune Publishing and the Chicago Tribune Guild agree to a three-week furlough for all unionized newsroom employees making $40,000 or more as a cost-saving measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two representatives of Alden Global Capital, Dana Goldsmith Needleman and Christopher Minnetian, are elected to Tribune Publishing’s board.

Tribune Publishing reports a $44 million first-quarter loss, due primarily to an accounting adjustment related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tribune Publishing and its largest shareholder, Alden Global Capital, strike a deal to extend an ownership standstill agreement. Alden co-founder Randall Smith is added to Tribune Publishing’s board, giving the hedge fund three seats on the now seven-member board.

A so-called ”poison pill” plan is adopted by Tribune Publishing’s board to thwart any potential hostile takeover of the company.

In 2016, the company, then known as Tronc, adopted a similar shareholder rights plan to fend off unsolicited and ultimately unsuccessful takeover bids by rival newspaper chain Gannett.

Tribune Publishing, which hasn’t made rent payment at most of the properties it leases since March, is in talks to leave Prudential Plaza amid the coronavirus pandemic. It’s unclear where the Chicago Tribune’s newsroom and offices, as well as the corporate parent’s headquarters, would relocate.

Former Tribune publisher Tony Hunter is named CEO of The McClatchy Company.

A Tribune Publishing shareholder sues the Chicago-based newspaper company and its board, alleging the adoption in July of a so-called poison pill is “an extremely aggressive overreach of corporate power.”

Hedge fund Alden Global Capital is looking to buy Tribune Publishing and take the Chicago-based newspaper company private in a deal valued at $520 million.

Alden, which already owns 32% of Tribune Publishing, makes a nonbinding proposal to buy out other shareholders for $14.25 per share, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The union representing the Chicago Tribune newsroom has called for the removal of three members of Tribune Publishing’s board who represent Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund trying to buy the newspaper chain and take it private.

The Chicago Tribune and its parent company will relocate out of Prudential Plaza at the end of this month, leaving the city’s largest newspaper without a downtown office less than three years after its exit from the landmark Tribune Tower.

The Tribune newsroom will move to the Freedom Center printing facility along the Chicago River north of downtown, employees were told in a memo.

As the Chicago Tribune prepares to move from Prudential Plaza, the owner of the downtown office complex has sued the newspaper’s parent company, Tribune Publishing, for $4.8 million in unpaid rent.

Tribune Publishing, publisher of the Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers, agrees to be acquired by Alden Global Capital in a deal valued at $630 million.

Maryland hotel magnate Stewart Bainum takes a preliminary step toward making a bid for all of Tribune Publishing, unnamed sources say.

Tribune Publishing’s board recommends shareholders approve Alden Global Capital’s $630 million offer to buy the Chicago-based newspaper company, but gives Maryland hotel executive Stewart Bainum the green light to pursue financing for a higher bid, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Hansjörg Wyss (pronounced Hans-yorg Vees), the former CEO of medical device manufacturer Synthes, says in an interview that he had agreed to join with Maryland hotelier Stewart Bainum in a bid for Tribune Publishing, an offer that could upend Alden Global Capital’s plan to take full ownership of the company.

Former media industry executive Mason Slaine, who until recently was Tribune Publishing’s third-largest shareholder, offers to invest $100 million in Maryland hotel executive Stewart Bainum’s bid to buy the Chicago-based newspaper chain. Slaine said he reached out to Bainum to offer his financial support and media experience in an effort to thwart a plan by hedge fund Alden Global Capital to buy the company.

Maryland hotel executive Stewart Bainum and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss make a fully financed $680 million bid for Tribune Publishing, according to a source close to the situation.

Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss drops out of a bid to buy Tribune Publishing, but his partner in that effort, Stewart Bainum, remains committed to purchasing the Chicago-based newspaper chain.

Tribune Publishing moves forward with plans to be acquired by Alden Global Capital and ends discussions with Maryland hotel executive Stewart Bainum.

Tribune Publishing shareholders approve hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s $633 million purchase of the Chicago-based newspaper chain.

Alden Global Capital completes its $633 million purchase of Tribune Publishing, taking the Chicago-based newspaper chain private.

New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital leverages Tribune Publishing with two loans totaling $278 million, removes CEO Terry Jimenez and installs Alden President Health Freeman to lead the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Two days after hedge fund Alden Global Capital completes its $633 million acquisition of Tribune Publishing, the new owners of the Chicago-based newspaper chain offer newsroom employees a buyout.

Almost 40 journalists are leaving the Chicago Tribune’s newsroom as part of a voluntary buyout program announced in late May by Tribune Publishing.

More than a dozen nonunion editors and support staff in the Tribune’s newsroom took buyouts. Another 24 newsroom employees who are members of the guild applied for and were accepted for buyouts, according to Greg Pratt, a Tribune reporter and guild president.

He said applications by three other members were denied, and the union hopes the company reconsiders their applications. After the departures, the guild will represent more than 80 newsroom employees, Pratt said.

McMahon announces he is stepping down as editor-in-chief after a challenging 18 months at the helm of the Chicago Tribune.

Mitch Pugh, who has been named executive editor of the Chicago Tribune after eight years in the same role at The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, will succeed McMahon.

Chicago Tribune Managing Editor Chrissy Taylor decides to leave her position at the newspaper.

Alden Global Capital, which owns Tribune Publishing, offers to buy the local newspaper chain Lee Enterprises for about $141 million.

Alden sues Lee Enterprises after the news publisher rejected Alden’s takeover bid.

Lightfoot picks Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center printing plant as her preferred site for a $1.74 billion casino, hotel and entertainment development. Rhode Island-based Bally’s, which owns and manages 14 casinos in 10 states, hopes to make this gambling complex the flagship of its chain.

Bally’s, which exercised its option the previous month to buy the Freedom Center printing plant site to build its Chicago casino, is expected to close the deal with owner Nexstar Media Group for $200 million.

The 41-year-old Freedom Center, which prints the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers, is slated for demolition as part of the casino development. But Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim said he is open to the possibility of Tribune’s printing plant remaining on the expansive River West site with the casino, when Bally’s takes over as landlord.

Chicago-based Tribune Publishing has exercised an option to extend its printing plant lease at Freedom Center, which is set to expire in June 2023, for another 10 years. Tribune and Nexstar are in arbitration over the terms of the extension.

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Sources and photos: Chicago Tribune, AP, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Reuters